8 tips for building B2B relationships

One of the essential things for a successful company is developing a solid relationship with its clients. However,  buyers are looking for more when it comes to their relationship with a company; more engagement, listening, and more partnership.

​In fact, only a few business-to-business (B2B) customers feel engaged, and a more significant percentage of others feel actively disengaged or indifferent.

Image by Diggity Marketing from Pixabay

Establishing a strong B2B relationship calls for planning, dedication, and hard work. Fortunately, you can utilize key marketing strategies as an ideal way for building and strengthening B2B relationships. The following 8 tips are some of the tried and tested ways to build better B2B relationships.

prioritize B2B relationships

B2B relationships, just like your personal relationships, need to be a priority if you want them to work better. This doesn’t mean that you ditch all your other duties and focus entirely on your B2B relationships. Instead, you should at least make it a regular item on your priority list. Respond to calls and emails promptly, keep up with social media and refer new clients as you find them. Check in regularly and bring value to the relationship - engage beyond the sale. Recognize the value in peer-to-peer relationships between executives of your company rather than delegating these communications to your ad or sales team.

share your best clients

As mentioned in the previous tip, refer new clients to your B2B contacts as you come across them. Do you have a new relationship with healthcare practice, such as a therapist private practice? Refer them to your software contact who runs an appointment notice service. ​Your healthcare partner can utilize reminders for therapists to get appointment notices to their customers, improving their own customer retention. Solving your client's problems builds a stronger relationship than selling products alone.

use social media

Engage with existing B2B partners, your customer base, and potential new partners using social media to fortify all of your relationships. Don't underestimate the power of social media. Regularly post on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to make your company visible and announce collaborations.

If you don't have in-house marketing focused on social media, prioritize doing so. 
Establish a social style guide so everyone posting knows how to stick to your brand’s values, voices, and message.

prioritize value over price

As I mentioned before, solving a customer's problem has a larger impact than emphasizing price. Just like with individual customers, emphasize the value of your products and services to B2B clients. Spend time creating a B2B campaign that emphasizes what you can offer B2B customers - don't just copy-paste your existing individual marketing campaigns.

emphasize relationships

Leverage listserv and subscription services to communicate regularly. Have a separate newsletter for individual customers and B2B customers. An excellent example of a B2B relationship that has overturned the conventional support model is  Software-as-a-service. With every subscription renewal, the business has a touchpoint with the customer. Focus on retaining clients and maintaining relationships. 

In addition, you can also use data to decide whether and when you are supposed to reach out to your customers. And in case you notice some signs of churning, ensure that you send that person a check-in email. Potential churns ​can include stagnant account activity, dropped sessions, account changes, negative feedback, and decreased usage rates.

help clients prosper

Bring a personal touch to your B2B relationships.​ Take part in team meetings, prepare some fantastic support, and do everything you can to be your customers’ best vendor. Take notes during meetings so you can refer back to them during future meetings - you'll impress your customers by showing how closely you pay attention and in doing so, are invested in their success.

bring humanity to marketing

Just like bringing the personal touch to your relationships with customers, bring that personal touch to your own teams. Let your dedication and passion for successful B2B relationships trickle down to your customer handling teams. Motivate your customer handling teams to take possession of their communication and write and speak in a manner that feels more warm and natural.

Emphasize the values and message of your brand, so that your employees can speak in their own engaging way to customer while still echoing a consistent message. Provide scripts to employees just starting out and provide one-on-one practice sessions with feedback.

focus on customer sectors

Spreading yourself too thin by focusing on every possible B2B client is likely to fall short of your development goals. Conduct sector risk analysis and narrow down your focus on certain marketing sectors and specify. Which customer sectors will provide you with the best chance of success with your products and services? Move your focus towards those sectors and customize your approach.​

final thoughts

When it comes to building a strong B2B relationship, don't overlook the small things.  Take your business to new heights by epitomizing your brand and focusing on a strong customer relationships.